May 31, 1933-May 19, 2010
Milt Robinson, one of Bermuda’s most renowned and respected jazz musicians, was born in Bermuda, the only child of Bermudian Fred “String” Robinson and Canadian Eileen Gibson.
Music was part of his life from an early age. His mother was one of 13 children and everyone in the family was musical, playing either the violin or the guitar. His father loved to sing and knew all the words to most jazz standards. There was always a piano in the parlour and his mother played by ear.
He was educated at West Pembroke School and The Berkeley Institute. He then went on to Verdun High School, Quebec where he bought his first guitar and taught himself to play. At age 20, he moved to Toronto to study classical guitar.
To make ends meet, he took a day job with Simpson Sears, a large retail store that sponsored the Toronto Symphony. Simpson Sears would issue free tickets to staff to see the Toronto Symphony. Milton met his wife, Renee, at Simpson Sears and both liked to attend the Toronto Symphony performances together.
The two enjoyed frequenting the many jazz bars in Toronto and Montreal, where they later lived, worked, married and had their first born, Dawn, before returning to Bermuda. They remained married for 52 years until Milton’s sudden death. They had three children, Dawn (born 1959); Michelle (born 1961), and Dean (born 1967).
Upon his return to Bermuda, Robinson joined Lance Hayward’s quartet, which consisted of Hayward on piano, Clarence “Tootsie” Bean on drums, Max Smith on bass and himself on guitar. They would play for six months in Bermuda at most of the top hotels of the day and six months in Jamaica, where they had a four-year residency at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay from 1957-1960.
It was in Jamaica, in 1959, where they impressed Chris Blackwell, an ambitious young British Jamaican producer. He recorded Lance Hayward at the Half Moon, a live album of jazz standards as the first release on his fledgling label, Island Records. Island Records went on to become one of the world’s most famous labels.
In 1966, Lance moved to New York City and Robinson formed his own trio. He worked at the Hamilton Princess Hotel for 14 years, playing around the pool and making the Gazebo Lounge his second home. With his easy-going nature and sense of humor, he was the epitome of a ‘cool jazz cat’ at a time when dancing to jazz was at its peak in Bermuda.
Local musicians who worked with Robinson throughout these years included Bentley Burgess, Gerald Davis, Stan Gilbert, Robert Symons, Peter Profit, Andrew Chamberlain, Howard Rego and Jeff Marshall. Out of these collaborations came two albums, Wanna Be With You and Search for Serenity, which reflected his diverse guitar stylings, including classical and calypso, as well as his own original compositions. He also collaborated on albums by other Bermuda artists, such as Gene Steede, Hubert Smith Sr. and Carl Rodney. In his later years, Robinson appeared on the annual televised Jean & Gene Christmas Show, hosted by Jean Howes and Gene Steede.
Although he enjoyed many types of music, Robinson fell in love with Brazilian music as a student. He visited Brazil several times and embraced the people, culture and the music. He believed that learning was an endless process and he studied classical guitar with Stephen Crawford and cello with Caroline Eaton. He also played with the Bermuda School of Music String Orchestra. In addition to guitar, Robinson played double bass, cello, flute, piano, vibraphone, trombone and many percussion instruments.
Joseph Richards, a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music, was one of Robinson’s early mentors and had a great influence on him. He studied voice and piano with Richards for many years. Robinson’s children also studied with Richards.
Robinson was an avid composer who would wake up in the early morning to write down tunes that came to him while he was asleep. He spent hours meticulously transferring compositions to paper in perfect note form and his music was used for dance, choreography and commercials as well as for live performances and local radio.
Outside of music, he had many other talents and interests including masonry, carpentry, plumbing, painting, which all came in handy when building and running the family guest house, Robin’s Nest in Pembroke. He had a green thumb and his family enjoyed eating the fruits and vegetables that he planted on the property. He was a good artist who liked drawing cartoons to accompany some of his musical works and his diverse hobbies included tai chi, martial arts, track and field, cycling, tap dance, tennis and meditation.
In 2007, he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bermuda Arts Council and was inducted into the Bermuda Music Hall of Fame in 2011. He also received a ‘Spring Into The Arts’ Music Award from the Ministry of Education in 2006 and the Adlev Entertainment Award for his contributions to music in 2001.
Robinson died suddenly at age 77. He collapsed just after having had a guitar lesson, cello lesson and an orchestra rehearsal at the Bermuda School of Music. The annual Bermuda Guitar Festival, held two weeks later, was dedicated to his memory.
Many of the tributes after his death called him a father figure to local musicians. Drummer Howard Rego said: “I don’t think there was a musician in Bermuda who did not learn something about their craft either musically or just how to handle themselves in a more professional way, from Milton.”
